I always hear about Morocco Desert Tours and the beautiful landscapes, which travelers see during their Morocco Desert Trips. But after visiting Morocco last week, words such as "awesome" and "spectacular" are not fair enough to describe this amazing place. Visiting the Sahara Desert, was my main reason for traveling to Morocco. As the third largest desert in the world, the magnificent Sahara Desert with its landscape, offers an unforgettable Moroccan walking experience, complete with snaking-charmers, dry plateaus, trees, deserted villages and beautiful sweeping dunes. I will give you a brief summary to my fantastic Morocco Desert tour, and then I will try to describe each part of this incredible experience.
Highlights
- A magical camel hike adventure
- Sleeping under the stars in the Sahara Desert Camp
- Visiting spectacular places with beautiful landscapes
3 days desert tour from Marrakech to Merzouga
My Desert Trip from Marrakech to Merzouga began by picking me up from my hotel at morning. We travelled across the High Atlas via the Tichka Pass (2260m), the highest road in Morocco, enjoying the scenic view of the foothill’s landscapers that are decorated by small Berber village.
First on the list was Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a traditional mud-brick city in the high Atlas Mountains, which has been appeared in many movies including Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator. Without visiting this place, Morocco Desert Tours could not be complete because many tourists want to visit this beautiful place.
After crossing the mountains, we descend to Ouarzazate where we enter the beautiful Draa Valley, one of Morocco’s most splendid and rewarding landscapes. It is the largest palm grove in the country and stretches for more than 190km along the banks of the River Draa. Finally, we reached our hotel in Dades Gorges in the evening. It was surprised because there was a Wi-Fi in the desert. I experienced a traditional Berber camp with tents, which have been upgraded with certain western comforts such as hot shower.
I started the second day of my Morocco Desert Excursions with a delicious Moroccan breakfast before departing to Todra Gorge. Although, I discovered that riding a camel was not easy, especially going up and down sand dunes, I enjoyed a lot with camel trekking adventure. Like the previous day, the journey wouldn’t be complete without visiting even more Berber villages. These ones were even more interesting; dry, dusty mountains, enormous gorges, spectacular waterfalls and green valleys.
After 2 hours, we finally reached the Sahara Desert and my feeling was unspeakable. It was so magical, I had never seen sand so orange, never seen so much sand before in my life. It was absolutely worth all that efforts, as the view at sunset was one of the best I have ever experienced. It was a great opportunity to take lovely pictures of the sunset and sunrise. I was so excited to sleep under the stars that night, because I always squeal with excitement when I go somewhere without light pollution and can actually see the stars for once. With zero light pollution, you could see these stars in incredible scene. Each moment was special in Morocco Desert Trips.
The third day, of my Morocco Desert Tours, started by waking up early to enjoy the sun rising over the desert; the sunrise was just as spectacular as the sunset from the night before. There was something so peaceful and relaxing about watching the sun rising over a landscape that had no buildings or people in sight. There was nothing but sand stretching out in every direction, fading out into what seemed like infinity. This moment was undoubtedly one of the most scenic journeys in Morocco. After that, we rode our camel’s back to the hotel in Merzouga. We travelled back to Marrakech in air-conditioned vehicles. In our way, we crossed Tazarine, Draa Valley, Agdez and Quarzazate. After reaching Marrakech, we visited the most exciting town square in the world, Jemaa el-Fnaa, reminds you that you are in Africa with snaking-charmers, henna-painters, storytellers and orange juice vendors set up their stalls.
You may ask me; what are the different kinds of the Morocco Desert Tours?
There are many kinds of Morocco desert tours, but those are the most popular:
1 night desert tour from Marrakech to Zagora
This one night Morocco Desert Excursion is for people who don’t have much time to see the desert and, in most cases, you’ll visit the sand dunes in Zagora. Visiting Erg Zagora desert is a great option, if you only have one night to spare.
3 days/ 2 nights desert tour from Marrakech to Merzouga
This Morocco Desert tour will take you to the Erg Chebbi dunes, with its spectacular landscapes.
3 days/ 2 nights Marrakech to Fez Desert Tour
This Morocco Desert Trip will take you to both Erg Chebbi and Fez Desert. You will have a good time in two cities Merzouga and Fez (or Fes).
Wherever you go in Morocco, with warm smiles of its friendly people, each moment there was unforgettable as I discover a country, which people have chosen to preserve its magical purity. This Desert trip from Marrakech to Merzouga, is the best thing I have ever done in my entire life, and all of you should try this incredible experience.